Just venting a bit, but last night I had my purse stolen while I was in the city, off my chair, while I was getting up, and I didn't even realize it until later... When I called the credit card company to cancel, they had already spent about $300, which of course is now cancelled.

It
had
everything.

But this is the way I think of it: Maybe they really needed that voice recorder with the HOURS of motivational conferences and meetings with influencial people... Maybe they needed that lip repair kit, or someone near them would. Maybe they need to see that they stole from someone who has business cards sporting her causes to help humanity to prompt them to rethink their actions. Maybe they needed money to buy some baby food.

Given the chance, I still have urges to .. MMMPH!!! right in the kisser, but at this point, all I can do is laugh that Karma has it's way, be humble enough that I don't know all the workings of the universe, and delight at the fact that I will have all new cards to go with my new life. (I had my "reset button" pressed Wednesday afternoon during a healing.)

So, for now, I battle "Yay new everything," and "Darn, all my stuff..." But it all works out in the end It won't deter me from my ultimate goals or my end, just make the road there more interesting. At least it's increased my resolve to heal this world enough that many less are acting out of a state of scarcity.

Crazy Healer LadyHealth and happiness to you!

The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness. -CWG

Ughh CHL that is so rubbish. Good for you for being objective about it and not allowing the thief to ruin your positive thoughts. I would try to (and have in the past) put it out of my mind too. Let's hope they really needed some money and will do something wonderful with it. But still...grrraaarrr

Yep, you're a better person than me, Crazy... I'd be yelling, and not quelling my natural urges to hurt people who deserve it, with happy thoughts. Have you called the police in the hopes that they may at least find the physical objects... The purse, the now empty wallet... If you know any of the registration numbers of your voice recorder, there's a chance of them finding it in a pawn shop at least!

My thoughts are with you... I know how much I panic when I forget a book on the bus, let alone having all my stuff stolen...

Trying to create a world, even in words, is good occupational therapy for lunatics who think they're God, and an excellent argument for Polytheism. -S.M. Stirling

I have to find the receipt for the voice recorder (which hopefully was not in the purse! Let's hope I had the good sense to file it away - It was a tax write off!), but the police at this point are not doing much. I may get to play Investigator for a little while, assuming Chevron will allow me access to their video tapes.

I am going to be contacting Superstore and Chevron, though. All purchases were made with clerks, not machines, and why were the signatures not checked?

I'm really digging this, "No ID, no purse" point until I slowly start to get my cards back. It's rather freeing! And I get to be a brand new person! New SIN number, even! And I get to talk to a government investigator!

Crazy Healer LadyHealth and happiness to you!

The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness. -CWG

I have been ripped off quite a bit lately. If you remember when someone at the electric company took my check info and sucked a Thousand dollars American out of my checking account? A month later a co-worker stole my credit card and went on a brief shopping spree while on shift.
Ah, yes, this could all be attributed to the spoiled economy. *shrugs* I am not sure.

I am glad you are able to keep positive and not let this all get to you. I do know from my experiences that the stress of it all is difficult. Unfortunately, I am not as forgiving as you are being. It seems that I just can't get over the whole violation aspect of being ripped off.
True enough, there is karma to jump in and come to play.

Oh, to answer your question of why the clerks did not catch it:
I serve easily over two hundred customers in one shift. Often times they swipe the card themselves and it is company policy (where I am) to only check ID when it is a purchase 50 dollars or over. I do catch some fraud about ten percent of the time. Honestly, I do not check ID for 60% of the transactions just for time issues. I am expected to do five hundred things at once, really.

I've worked in that sort of job... I still looked at the back of the card, and spend at least a moment comparing signatures, or at least if the name is correct. Not looking at all is just being lazy. I've worked at a Seven-Eleven during rushes, where you're swiping cards through so quickly you don't even really see the face of the person you're serving, I always made a point of checking. It's a dereliction of duty, since you're supposed to at least pretend to check. I mean, sure customers will gripe when you tell them you need to see ID for a signature, since for "Safety's Sake" they hadn't signed their card, but that's part of the job! Bad economy or not, it's our laziness that's letting so many of these frauds get by completely unchecked!

Trying to create a world, even in words, is good occupational therapy for lunatics who think they're God, and an excellent argument for Polytheism. -S.M. Stirling

Hubby grumps (He works at a credit union) that the waitresses at a restaurant for a bill $30 or lower will ask to see ID (as the back of his card says), but the clerks at Best Buy or something for a $60+ video game purchase won't.

I agree that it's laziness on the part of both the clerks and the management that allow these thieves to rip people off.

Kitsune wrote:I've worked in that sort of job... I still looked at the back of the card, and spend at least a moment comparing signatures, or at least if the name is correct. Not looking at all is just being lazy. I've worked at a Seven-Eleven during rushes, where you're swiping cards through so quickly you don't even really see the face of the person you're serving, I always made a point of checking. It's a dereliction of duty, since you're supposed to at least pretend to check. I mean, sure customers will gripe when you tell them you need to see ID for a signature, since for "Safety's Sake" they hadn't signed their card, but that's part of the job! Bad economy or not, it's our laziness that's letting so many of these frauds get by completely unchecked!

I disagree. The place I work at is a hybrid Ice cream store/gasoline station. Sorry, we do more and have more responsibility than just a gas station attendant. When I have to make twenty milkshakes and ring up customers because my co-worker is stocking the cooler, I cannot reasonably check everyone's ID.
I am not being lazy when I have five hundered things to worry about (I am not going to list them unless it is requested).

No offense, but I am not your mom. It is not my job to keep you safe otherwise I would be a cop instead of a clerk.

What I am saying is that, while I do catch a good deal of fraud, some people do fall down the crack.
Blaming the clerk is not the way to go here.
The person who lost their card is being irresponsible and trying to blame a clerk for their own fault.
These people allowed themselves to be ripped off (from someone who has had their credit card stolen).

I think calling the stores will still be a good action because hopefully it will help others in the future. I know how much of a pain it is to check ID and sigs, but it was still my responsibility every time, regardless of how busy I was. Plus, I'd rather make a few people angry for having to wait the extra seconds to minute than not catch that one case of fraud and theft.

Crazy Healer LadyHealth and happiness to you!

The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness. -CWG

I am not going to. You guys want to call me lazy, fine. Simply put: By policy, I do not have to check your Id unless it is $50.00 or over. It is not my duty or obligation by company policy.
This is not just a factor of me being busy. Angry customers equals a danger to me and my livelyhood not just lack of business.
Sure it was easy to blame the clerk when someone stole my credit card. I wanted to march over to Wendy's and say, "Hey, does some ugly black guy look like his name could be 'Sonya'?"

If you call the most you will get (the most I got) was, "Sorry mam, but this happens all of the time."

I did not take a oath to serve and protect otherwise I would have a gun and a badge.

Normally, If someone does steal your card then it never crosses the clerk. They swipe it at the pump.

BB
Lotus

Last edited by Lotus on Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm more inclined to agree with Lotus. In certain areas there are self check outs and drive thru's and pay at the pump stations. It is all to easy for someone to steal a credit card and use it where they won't get caught, aside from if it is canceled and the card is declined.

Also, it is easy for someone toe steal your number and use it instead of the card. When you give your card to the person at the drive through, they can easily take a pic with their camera phone of all the important info and use it on the web to purchase things.

The best you can do is call the credit card companies as soon as you can't find your wallet and keep up on your statements and all. If anything is suspicious, report it.

FyreGarnet

The difference between cats and dogs is that dogs want to smell everyone's rear and cats want every one to smell THEIR rear - unknown